Birthday Celebrations Part 2
by Anna Louisa
Summary: Just a look at a possible way the evening of July 1 might have gone. Takes place after the ending of Mark of Athena. Spoilers for the end of the book.


Jason sat alone in his room. He, Hazel, Frank, Piper, Leo, Nico and Coach Hedge had just finished what had to be the single worst dinner in the history of dinners. Everyone had been quiet and sad, making Percy and Annabeth's absence all the more obvious. And to top it all off, no one, not even Piper, had said a word about it being his birthday.

Jason shook his head at himself in frustration. He shouldn't think like that. Percy and Annabeth falling into Tartarus was a slightly bigger problem than no one celebrating his sixteenth birthday. Besides, he'd gotten to have lunch with Piper in a beautiful park in Rome earlier in the day. That hadn't been too bad. It just made him sad that so many people got to relax and enjoy their birthdays, and he didn't even get that chance. He knew it was just one of the occupational hazards of being a demigod, but it still made him sad, especially when he remembered Reyna's sixteenth birthday.

There had been a huge party, kept secret from her of course. As her best friend, Jason had been heavily involved in the planning. There had been balloons and a cake and dancing (which she hated, but got talked into all the same) and they'd even gotten Hylla to come down and see her, which made Reyna the happiest she'd been that month. He had had a great time, and Reyna had said goodnight to him that night with the promise of an equally big bash for his birthday.

Well, obviously things had gotten a little complicated since then. But still...

Stop it, he told himself firmly. There was no point mourning over what he couldn't have. He should be focusing on the quest, and trying to think of where they needed to go next, and how they would get there. But for some reason, his birthday kept creeping back into his head, poisoning his thoughts at every turn.

He was just about ready to turn out the light and go wallow in self-pity when there was a knock at the door. He opened it and was surprised to see Leo standing there.

"Hey, man," he said. "What's up?"

"Got something I wanna show you," Leo said. His voice was rough, like he'd been crying. Jason couldn't blame him if he had. Silently, he followed Leo down the hallway.

"Where are we going?" he asked. "The engine room's the other way.."

Leo just gave him a mysterious grin. "Just come on. It's in here."

"The dining hall? Leo, what-"

Leo pushed the doors open and revealed Piper, Hazel, Frank, and even Nico sitting at the table around a purple cake with a 1 and a 6 on it. Jason's mouth dropped open.

"Surprise!" they all said, each of them with a smile on their face.

"How'd you guys know it was my birthday?" Jason asked, following Leo to the head seat of the table. In the back of his mind, he noted that three chairs were missing from the table, but he shoved the thought away.

"Did you really think I was going to let your sixteenth birthday just pass?" Piper asked, smiling at him. "Of course not. I talked to everyone and they agreed we needed a little something to pick up our spirits, especially after today."

"Thanks, guys," Jason said, and he meant it whole-heartedly. Piper took a knife and cut the cake, dividing it into six (large) pieces. There was a silence while they ate, but Jason didn't mind. He was mostly just thrilled that someone had remembered. He reached under the table and took Piper's hand, squeezing gently. She squeezed back.

When the cake was gone, everyone was yawning, and Jason bid them all to go to bed, telling them it was a great "celebration" and he didn't want to keep them up late. They left one by one, Frank and Leo patting him on the back and Hazel giving him a one-armed hug as she helped Nico out of the room. Finally, only Piper remained.

"So was that okay?" she asked, turning to face him. He grinned back and leaned towards her.

"It was perfect," he said softly, just before pulling her lips to his.

**So, um, I hate the ending, personally, but there you have it. Someone made a post on Tumblr about this and I decided to write it. Oh, well, here you go. Please tell me what you think!**


End file.
